A proposal for more than 700 housing units in Somers has cleared local government.
Milwaukee-based
Three Leaf Partners and Kenosha-based
Land Quest are proposing to redevelop the Maplecrest Country Club into housing targeted at a diverse range of renters and owners. The development team is under contract to purchase the site but needed village approvals before moving forward.
The Somers Village Board on Tuesday approved four items related to the project. This comes after the village in December postponed its vote on the project due to parking and stormwater management concerns.
Located about 2.5 miles north of the Kenosha Regional Airport, the 162-acre site at 9401 18th St. is currently owned by the Maplecrest Country Club Inc.
Three Leaf is proposing to build 443 apartment units in 13 different buildings, which is down from the initial proposal of 502 apartments. Those apartments would range from studios with rents of $1,185 per month to three-bedroom units with rents of $2,315 per month, according to village documents.
Known as the Maples at Somers, the project will be built in phases, starting with seven of the apartment buildings. Future phases will include 46 for-sale duplexes and 230 single family homes. The single family home component will be built by Land Quest.
The development will include about 55 acres of open space in total, as well as resident amenity spaces.
Developer documents cite the growing demand for housing in Kenosha County as the area's economy continues to grow, but the lagging development of new housing as reason for the project's scope and scale.
"The Maples at Somers will help balance the shortage of rental housing options in Somers and Kenosha County as the vacancy rate is currently less than 1%," developer documents say. "Generally, in a normal, more balanced market, vacancies of 5% to 6% are required for filtering, or movement between developments."
Construction of the first phase could begin in the second quarter of 2025.
